Scandalo!
President Obama touched off a controversy in Italy yesterday just by praising the integrity of one of his hosts.
Arriving at the G8 summit, Obama heaped unusually lavish praise on President Giorgio Napolitano, who holds a figurehead post — rather than compliment scandal-plagued Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s real leader.
“I had heard of the wonderful reputation of President Napolitano as somebody who has the admiration of the Italian people because of not only his longstanding service, but also his integrity and his graciousness,” Obama said.
“And I just want to confirm that everything about him that I have heard is true. He’s an extraordinary gentleman, a great leader of this country,” he added as Napolitano stood beside him in Rome’s ornate Quirinal Palace.
To Berlusconi watchers, Obama’s comments were a thinly veiled slap at the prime minister, who has been dogged by a sex scandal and gaffes.
“It is peculiar to emphasize the integrity of a largely symbolic leader,” said James Walston, a political-science professor at the American University of Rome. “The comments on integrity are a very mild swipe at all the things that are going on.”
After Obama was elected, Berlusconi was accused of racism when he praised the new president for being “handsome, young and suntanned.” He later called his accusers “imbeciles.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs hurried to downplay the latest controversy.
“I wouldn’t read anything into it at all,” he said. “Sometimes we just mean what we say and there’s no secret code.”
While Obama and leaders of seven other industrialized nations sat down to talk issues in the town of L’Aquila, protesters broke into power stations across Italy and shed their clothes in downtown Rome to demand action on global warming.
On the historic Spanish Steps, environmentalists stripped half-naked in front of tourists and unfurled a banner calling on leaders to “Keep climate cool.”
The final text of the summit commits the eight countries to limit the rise in global temperatures to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said.